Issues
by hellsgcddess
Summary: Everyone had problems, right? Well shit, we sure did. Deadbeat parents, nowhere to be found. I was left with four children to care for. I never had a childhood, I simply gave them the best one. I did my best to take care of the kids, but every now and then we fuck up, right? I fucked up big time. [MOSTLY AU]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I, Aly, do not own any of the following below, except the original characters, and the plotline. Hasbro has all the rights to their Transformers franchise.**

 **Author's Note: I thought I should address this at the beginning rather than the end. If you haven't noticed, I've cleared out my stories. Borderline is gone simply because I stopped having muse and I like Bucky more than Pietro. I'll probably end up deleting Shadow Whispers too since that was a spur of the moment upload. This story, however, is not here to replace the Mostly stories, it's simply a buffer until I get my muse for the original back. With that being said, this is** _ **Issues**_ **. Issues is the Mostly AU that I've thought about for actually a long time, but never got around to writing but right now, my muse is very high, and I wrote. Issues is still about Nova & Brooks, but Nova is 20 and lives in Chicago with her cousins. Brooks comes in and changes all of their lives. Nova is a lot different than in the OG Mostly. ****(I just said OG, oh my god.)** **She's more grown up, and…well, you'll find out more as you read. I hope that you enjoy Issues.**

* * *

"Everyone better be downstairs and ready when I get out of the bathroom!" I yelled through the house as I made my way to the bathroom, knocking on the closed doors as I walked past. I moved to the bathroom, grabbing my toothbrush and getting ready for the day. I did my hair, and my makeup, turning around as I heard several pairs of feet hit the staircase.

I glanced up as I hit the last step and smiled at my cousins. They were all younger than I was, and their parents were deadbeat and nowhere to be found. My mom's sister vanished with her husband while I was visiting. And here I am now, taking care of four children that weren't my own.

I was eldest, the caretaker, the 'mom' of the little dysfunctional household. I was 20, dropped out of school since my 'real home' was in California. My parents were alright with everything but stopped calling when I turned 20. It didn't bother me much, I was thrown into adulthood and I think I was doing a good job.

Then came Nick, he was 17 and the well behaved one out of the bunch. He tried to help out around the house the best he could. He helped his siblings get ready when I was dead tired or passed out on the couch from drinking too much the night before. He made sure the kids stayed out of shit at school while he was the worst one at school.

Lizzie was next, 15, and absolutely wild. She got it from her father, I knew that much. She tried to listen at home, given when she was there. She was the worst in the family. Stole, fought, but protected us from anything. We barely saw her on the weekends, but she always made sure to come home during the night, to keep me from having a heart attack. She was the first to answer the door if we didn't know them. They always did say that redheads have the worst temper…

Anna came after Lizzie, who was the quiet one who barely talked outside of the home. Anna helped with chores and didn't get in much trouble, but trouble always had a way of finding her. She usually stuck with Nick when Lizzie was nowhere to be found. Nick had tried to teach her how to protect herself, but she wouldn't have any of it. She was also the one that went shopping with me for food. She was an expert at math and always helped with money. She was at the top of her class at only the age of 12.

Now came little Jack, he was only 8. The youngest, and barely remembers his parents since they left two years ago, and he was used to me now. He barely talked to me, though, he was always with Anna if not with me. They were hip to hip from when Jack was born, Anna adored her little brother and only protected him when he was around and we were in trouble.

This was us. And we had a shit ton of issues.

"Alright, Anna, we gotta get food when you get back from school," I told them as I checked the mail, checking for any late bills, that the deadbeats made me pay, with them still nowhere to be found. Luckily, there weren't any.

"Swear Jar?" Anna moved to the window, where there was a full jar of bills and coins at the bottom. Someone would've thought that we stopped swearing given how full the jar was, but we never learned.

"What the fuck do you think?" Lizzie grumbled as she ate her cereal, as I lightly smacked her head with the mail. "Whatever." She shrugged, giving me a small smile as she kept eating.

"What are you going to do today, No?" Somehow, the nickname 'No' had stuck from when I first met Jack, who couldn't say my full name, and simply yelled no in my face. Everyone found it amazing and since then, I've been No or simply Nova.

"Kenna needs some help with shit, I guess. I don't know. I think her and Logan broke up." I shrugged, "So she'll probably need to drink or smoke the sad away." I looked up when the door opened and all the kids turned around.

"Speak of the devil," Nick smirked at me. Kenna sniffed as she closed the door, and grabbed the bottle of Jack we had in the freezer. "Ken, isn't day drinking a bit much?"

"Fuck off, Madsen." She replied, going to the living room, and sitting on the couch, drinking from the bottle.

"Yanno other people drink that." Lizzie handed me a cigarette as I grabbed my lighter, lighting her cig with mine. "Thanks."

I shrugged, as I flicked the ashes in the sink. "No worries. Time for school, chop chop!" I grabbed the lunches and handed everyone a bag. One by one they all headed out the door.

"Love you!" They all called out as Nick shut the door behind him.

I turned on the news as I sat next to my best friend, who took my cig and handed me the bottle. "I can't day drink, you know this."

Kenna nodded, "Right. You have kids to take care of." She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe that they left them with you. How old were you when you moved here?"

"Technically, I never did. I was visiting one night, and the next Jack and Sarah were gone. Nick helped me out with a lot of stuff and I picked up his habits." I nodded to the cig that Kenna handed back to me. "They fucked their kids up. I'm trying to fix them, I guess. Make sure they don't end up dead by the tracks." I ran a hand over my braids, shaking my head.

"You're in the white ghetto of Chicago, we're all fucked up," Kenna whispered, almost ashamed to admit it. "Tell me two good things that came from becoming hood rather than what you were in Cali."

"I barely have personal anxiety anymore." I told her, "I can actually stand up for myself, and be able to take a punch. I can fight back; I can defend my family."

"That's one." Kenna nodded, taking another swig of the bottle.

I chuckled, and fell back into my Cali accent, "I don't talk like this anymore."

Kenna burst out laughing. "You sound like a white gay surfer!"

"That's most of California!" I laughed back, "See, I'm better here." I sighed, "I mean, after the whole Mission City shit, my mom wouldn't let me leave the goddamn house for two weeks. And with the city still cleaning up from what the robots did now, I can't imagine what's going to happen in two more years." I shook my head.

"Chicago recovered, No. You're just used to seeing the hood all the time." Kenna gave me a look as I finished the cig. "It happened three years ago. Downtown is fine now." She chuckled.

"Damn, that tells you how much I go out, doesn't it?" I sighed as Kenna laid in my lap, as we sat in silence.

* * *

"Your total comes up to 53.79." The cashier told me, looking like he wanted to die. I glanced at Jack as he stood up in the cart, and sat right back down when he made eye contact with me. I could feel the other customers judging me hardcore for having Jack with me, but I couldn't leave him at home. Nick was busy at work, and Lizzie was somewhere making money but I refused to ask how.

"We have coupons," Anna told him, handing him a stack of organized small pieces of paper. He looked back up at me, and then flicked his light on.

"What's the problem?" I asked, locking my jaw.

"The maximum of coupons I can run is eight. You have more than 8." He said as a manager came up and started scanning.

"You're Sarah's kid, aren't you?" I looked over when another employee was in front of Jack. He turned back to me, unable to answer the woman who asked.

"Take care of this," I whispered to Anna, as she carefully watched the price go down. I turned back to the woman.

"Who the hell are you?" I didn't like strangers talking to my family, and I didn't give a shit if they knew Sarah or Jack.

"I used to work with Sarah, but she stopped showing up for work."

"So you're a prostitute at night, and a checker during the day?" I raised an eyebrow. She looked baffled at the information I knew, as she quickly apologized and moved away. It honestly surprised me how Jack was the father of all the children with the sleeping around Sarah did.

"Your new total comes to 33.24." The cashier told me, as I gave him the money mostly in ones and fives. The swear jar was made for grocery shopping, with the help of Anna, of course.

Once we got back home, Nick helped with the putting away everything, before helping everyone with their homework. Lizzie left as soon as hers was done, yelling that she'd be home for dinner later.

"That's a surprise," Anna commented as Kenna walked back in the house, as she threw a dress at me.

"Nick, you got the kids for a couple hours?"

"Of course." He told her as she started doing Anna's homework for her, a cig hanging out of his mouth.

* * *

Kenna smirked as she pulled me into the club. "Do I even want to know how you got us in here?"

"I have shit on the bouncer outside." She winked at me, as the music started to get louder and louder. She smirked as she wrapped her hands around my waist, "Dance with me, babe." She grinned as we both started to feel the music, and stopped hearing it.

After the same song played for a few hours, we needed drinks. We walked to the bar and ordered the cheapest beer they had, as the bartender simply eyed us up and down and handed us the beer.

"It's on me," Kenna and I heard a voice yell over the music. I looked over at the voice and was met with dark blue eyes, that glowed in the darkness of the club. He gave us a dashing smile and walked over, his own beer in hand. "I'm Brooks."

"I'm Nova, this is Kenna." I nodded to my best friend, who simply raised her beer in greeting. She nudged me, silently telling me that I should go for it, as she disappeared back on the dance floor.

Brooks finished his beer, and looked me over, "You don't look Chicago."

I glared, "Didn't realize I could look like a fuckin' city."

"Hey, no that's not what I meant. You aren't from here." He raised an eyebrow.

"McKinley, California," I answered back, as his eyes lit up.

"You're a Cali girl?" He smirked as he got closer.

"Hell no," I whispered, realizing how close he was to me. It didn't occur to me that we were around people as he glanced down at me, before his lips crashed with mine, as his hands curled around my hips, and mine weaved through his hair, pulling him closer than I could.

He pulled back for a second, breathing heavy as he asked me the silent question.

I gave him a nod, and we were both gone and out of the club.

* * *

 **I did mention that Nova is a lot different, right? Yeah, I did. Just reminding anyone who wants to give me hate if they don't like this story. This is still a Transformers story, it's set between DOTM and AOE. Where exactly I'm not sure. I hope you like it.** **If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, leave them for me to read. — REMEMBER, NO FLAMES.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I, Aly, do not own any of the following below, except the original characters, and the plotline. Hasbro has all the rights to their Transformers franchise.**

* * *

"Who's the guy?" Anna whispered to me as I packed everyone's lunches. I glanced up at the one night stand from last night, who smiled and waved as I made eye contact.

"Ask him," I answered back as I gave her the lunch bag. "Can you give this to Liz when you see her?" I kissed her forehead and watched her walk outside, Nick closing the door behind them like always.

"Forget my name already?" I looked up when Brooks leaned against the counter, a lazy smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and moved past him, picking up the dirty dishes. "Let me help." He stepped in front of me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you think I actually wanted a boyfriend out of this? Listen, I have 4 kids to take care of, I barely make money as is and we use money from the fucking swear jar to pay for our food." I told him. "This isn't some rich neighborhood; you know that right? This is the ghetto." I moved to the sink and started the dishes as Brooks stood behind me in silence.

"I'm being a decent person, Nova." He told me as he leaned against the counter, looking down at me. "I know this is the ghetto. I know people here aren't rich, I know they have to fend for themselves." He ran a hand through his hair. "Give me a week trial run. If my help isn't up to your standards, you won't see me again." He told me.

I scoffed. "What's in it for you?"

"I get to see your beautiful face every day." He smirked at me, frowning when the someone opened the door.

"No!" I turned around to see Nick with wide eyes. "Liz is in jail."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Isighed, and then grabbed my shoes. "Well, your trail starts now. Let's go."

* * *

How'd you get the car?" Nick sat next to Brooks as I talked to the officer. I ignored them, and turned back to the cop.

"Well? What happened? Where's Lizzie?" I raised an eyebrow, watching the cop file through papers.

"Full name?"

"Elizabeth Lucy Madsen." I answered, "Redhead, 15." I told him, as he finally nodded.

"Have a seat, miss, I'll go check what's happening." He gave me a tight smile, and then walked in the back as I sat down, next to Nick, as my knee bounced.

I nodded as Nick handed me a smoke, "You need it more than I do." He told me, as I took a deep drag, looking at the cops and the other people who were judging us. Nick glanced at brooks. "You know, man you stick out like a sore thumb."

"What's that mean?" Brooks raised an eyebrow.

I scoffed, but kept my mouth shut, listening to Nick's explanation. "You look rich, man. No one on the South Side looks like you do. You should've been jumped by now." He chuckled.

"No, look." I focused on Anna's words, and then looked up when the buzzer went off and Lizzie walked through the door. She looked ashamed of herself.

"There you go." The officer nodded to us, as I walked up to him. "The bail's been paid for." He told me, "Have a nice day." He gave me a smile. I watched him leave, and then turned to Lizzie, who wouldn't make eye contact with me.

"Nova, you don't hate me do you?" Lizzie whispered when we got outside. I turned to her and watched her for a couple of moments.

"No, but you're staying home for a few weeks. Yes, that means you're grounded." I told her. "What the fuck were you doing that got you _arrested_?"

She stayed quiet for a couple of moments. "Selling drugs." She whispered.

"Selling…" I shook my head, "Elizabeth, don't be your parents. They're pieces of shit, and I know that I raised you for the past two years, but you know I busted my ass for you guys. I've kept food on the table, clothes clean, made sure you have things to do on the weekend, and _you sell drugs_?! Where the hell's the money?" I asked.

Now, back home, we all sat at the table while Brooks helped Jack with something in the living room, knowing he wasn't a part of the conversation. Lizzie sighed, and grabbed her purse, simply handing it to me. "I'm not sure how much is in there but it should be enough for winter. I told the people I was working with that once I got caught I'm done, and I am." She whispered.

I checked the money, and handed it to Anna, knowing she'd count it and write down everything that we needed to know.

"Who was working with you? Who were you working for?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow, "Did they hurt you?"

"Nick." I shut him up, as I looked back to Lizzie, waiting for her to give us answer.

"The Sokolov's." She answered. "No, they didn't ever touch me. They told me to go around clubs and sell it for a high price, telling that I could keep tips and 85% of what everyone made together."

"The ex-KGB family?" I ran a hand through my hair, "Jesus Christ, Liz." I let out a long sigh. "You're done. If you want to help this family, get a fucking job." I ended the conversation.

I stood up, "Brooks, Jack you're good to come back." I called as I finished doing the dishes. After I was done, I looked at Brooks, letting out a sigh, "Thank you for dinner."

"It was McDonald's." He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, your point? It's better than canned chicken." I sighed, "I need to put Jack to bed, I'll be right back." I handed him my smoke, and walked up to the boy's room, "Everyone decent?"

"Yeah, you're good." Nick opened the door, "I can put Jack to bed if you're busy…" He winked at me.

"Thank you. Come downstairs when you're done, yeah?" I smiled when he nodded and turned back around and went back to the kitchen, seeing Brooks coughing over the sink.

"How do you do that?" He nodded to the cig as he kept coughing.

"What, smoke?" I laughed, "Blame Nick, he got me hooked." I shrugged. "Everyone does it, I'm surprised that Anna hasn't tried yet, to be honest." I sat on the counter, and smiled when Brooks moved in between my knees, lightly kissing me.

"Yo, you wanted to talk to me?" Brooks quickly moved away, and looked out the window, as I nodded at Nick.

"What drugs was she selling, do you know?"

"Coke, but it was laced with some new drug. That's what made it so expensive." He sighed, taking the smoke that was in between my fingers. "She's a lot like Sarah." He whispered.

"I know, it scares me." I sighed, resting my head against his shoulder, as he hugged me with one arm. "What are we going to do, Nick?"

He sighed, taking a long drag, "I don't know. I gotta go study, test tomorrow." He patted me on the shoulder, and then headed back up the stairs.

"Who's Sarah?" Brooks asked, sitting next to me on the counter.

"Their mother. Both her and Jack bailed two years ago. I was visiting them, because I was best friends with Nick when I was younger, but the next morning they weren't here at all. Just bailed on the family. No note, nothing. Took all the money too." I shrugged. "Nick helped me a lot in the beginning, until I got myself on my feet and met Kenna, who helped me get a job and some money in the back for the bills that the deadbeats refuse to pay." I explained. "I'm their cousin. My parents stopped calling in May, when I turned 20, they wanted me to come back home but then the kids would be taken away and I couldn't do that. I explained to my parents what was happening, and they told me I was on my own, and now, here I am. Lizzie has always been the troublemaker, got into fights, B & E, small shit that everyone does, but selling drugs for the Russians that live here? That's a low that I never expected her to hit, but she did. At least she made money for us." I shrugged.

"Jesus, how old is everyone?"

"I'm 20, Nick is 17, Liz is 15, Anna is 12 and Jack is 8," I told him, letting out a sigh. "I've been here since I was 17." I finished my story. "Now, how about," I turned to him, "We go up to my bedroom and see how quiet we can be?"

Brooks smirked at me, and lifted me around his waist, "What room?" He whispered, biting my ear.


End file.
